


in every way we'll make it

by Sway



Category: Constantine (TV)
Genre: Gen, John Constantine Kissing Dudes 2K14, Post-Series, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, fluffy with a side of angsty crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3517766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sway/pseuds/Sway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zed's plans for Valentine's Day go awry so she spends the evening with the boys</p>
            </blockquote>





	in every way we'll make it

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from “so glad you made it” by Kane (the Dutch band Kane, not Christian Kane)

“Are you sure, luv? You’ve got to be sure.”

Zed pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing in frustration. They have been over this at least four times. “Yes, John, I am sure. Will you let me go now?”

“At least say goodbye to Chas. You know how sentimental he gets.”

“Christ’s sake, John, let her go. If she wants to go to the party, she goes to the party,” Chas answers from the kitchen.

“Thank you. At least one of your sees any reason.”

“Just be careful, alright?”

“I just helped you nail a satanist serial killer, I think I can handle a Valentine’s party.” Zed thrusts up her chin, actually managing to tower over John.

“Famous last words.” At last, he steps out of her way. “Fine, off you go.”

“Thanks, daddy,” she replies, the words sounding off coming from her. She cringes a little but shakes it off quickly. Already on the first step, she leans over the railing of the winding staircase, grabbing John by the tie. “You two have fun.” Then she kisses him on the forehead and bounds up the stairs.

“Did she just call me daddy?” John asks when he is sure Zed is out of earshot.

“Sure did.” Chas’ voice is colored with a smirk. “As if you don’t enjoy it.”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“Just chop your carrots, John.”

“Yes, daddy.” John joins him in the kitchen where Chas is preparing their dinner. He bumps his shoulders against Chas’ chest who doesn’t waver in the slightest.

“There was no need to be so hard on her. She deserves the time off. As do we,” Chas says after a while of chopping and slicing and mincing.

John glances over his shoulder, all but cutting his finger instead of a mushroom. “And yet you are here.”

Chas doesn’t turn, and his answer is casual, not picking up on John’s insinuation. “Somebody was to put food in you. You can’t actually live off Silk Cuts and bourbon alone.”

“You say the sweetest things.” John sidles up to him, nudging his way into Chas’ personal space, and goes on tiptoes to press a kiss to his bearded cheek.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Zed stands at the bottom of the stairs, hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jackets.

“There’s plenty of me to go around, luv.” John smirks at her, commencing his rather bungled kitchen duty, leaving it up to Chas to pose the question he actually means to ask.

“Party got cancelled?”

Zed hesitates. “No, I just… last time I had a date, the guy got shot and I was kidnapped, so… I think I might just skip the Hallmark experience this year.”

“Then set the table for three, please.”

“Bet she’s just pining over the detective,” John grumbles, tossing his chopped vegetables in with the simmering coq au vin.

Chas chuckles under his breath. “Are you jealous?”

“Me? No.” Maybe he is, John isn’t sure what he felt when he saw Zed and Corrigan kiss at that bar. “Suppose it’s just the beard and the accent anyway.”

“And the gun. And maybe the uniform,” Chas keeps on teasing while he keeps on stirring.

“I had a shotgun and a coat.”

“So you’re definitely not jealous.”

“I’ll go get the wine, eh.” John tosses a kitchen towel at Chas, aiming for his face but only hitting the other man in the shoulder.

“This is okay for you guys, right?” Zed asks, collecting the cutlery from the kitchen.

“Of course. And don’t mind John. He’s just grumpy he won’t get laid tonight.”

Zed looks a little wide-eyed at Chas, gesturing between him and John who emerges from the pantry. “So you’re not…”

“Me and him? No,” Chas answers quickly before John can get a word in.

“Although it wasn’t for lack of trying.” John all but bounces on his feet, all glee from head to toe. “As you may have noticed, Chas likes little blondes.”

Both Chas and Zed look at him; Chas with semi-serious annoyance, and Zed with cheeky amusement. Their reaction sparks a laugh from John, before he goes to retrieve the corkscrew from where he has left it after his last trial-incantation.

“It’s good to see that,” Zed says as she helps carry the food to the table.

“See what?” Chas places the large pot in the middle of the table, checking the content one last time. 

“To see John smile like that. Genuine. It’s a good look on him.” A blush colors Zed’s cheeks and she tries to hide it behind the veil of her curls.

“Maybe you should tell him that.” Chas wraps an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Might do him good.”

“Tell me what?” John asks upon his return. 

Zed scrambles for an answer, looking at Chas for help who just smiles smugly into this beard. “That… it’s really great you’ll watch… ‘Gone with the Wind” on DVD with me tonight.”

“Don’t own a TV, luv.”

“Yeah, you do. I brought it with me when I…”

“He’s just messing with you,” Chas interrupts. “He’s been watching ‘The Exorcist’ on repeat for the past month. With running commentary.”

“That’s just for research. That movie…”

“Sit down,” Chas breaks his ramble before John can get into it. “Eat.”

John gives him a mock salute, then does as he is told. “Yes, daddy.”

 

*

 

They eat, have a drink, and for once, they don’t talk shop. 

It’s a welcome distraction for them all. 

John recalls the golden days of Mucous Membrane, how he and Chas met, and how John - to ultimately seal his fate with the Chandler family - had crashed Chas’ and Renee’s wedding.

At some point, Zed has to tell him to stop because she’s already laughing tears.

For dessert, they move over to the sofa. From somewhere, Chas has whipped up chocolate mousse and fruit sauce which is basically calorie-laden heaven. When Zed compliments him on it, he just shrugs and tells her that while they are out saving the world, he stays home and cooks. It earns him a kiss on each cheek, one from Zed and one from John.

The latter asks for more wine when they start the DVD, claiming that if he is even remotely sober, he’ll do his running commentary.

Once the movie starts, John settles back on the couch next to Chas, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Zed takes the armchair, curling into it like a cat, and pulls a blanket across her lap.

They are not even half an hour in, when they hear John snoring softly. His head has rolled back against the couch, putting an uncomfortable strain on his body.

Zed looks from John to Chas, barely able to contain a giggle. Then she unfolds herself from the armchair, pads over to the couch and drapes her blanket over John’s legs. Once she is back in her spot, Chas contributes to John’s comfort, snaking an arm beneath John’s body to pull him against his shoulder.

John body reacts on its volition to the sudden shift in position. He curls against Chas’s side, instinctively pulling the blanket up over his stomach. His snoring increases as he does, like a cat getting a long overdue belly-rub.

“Shouldn’t we get him into his bed?” Zed stage-whispers.

Chas shakes his head. “He’ll be fine. I’m just glad he is asleep at all.”

For a moment, Zed hesitates, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “Has he ever told you? About… about when he wakes up?”

Chas looks at her for a long moment, then down at John. “It’s part reason why we never share a hotel room,” he explains, his eyes never leaving John. “He thinks I don’t know. And I let him believe it.”

“Why?”

“If that’s what he needs to do…,” Chas shrugs as much as he can without disturbing John, “I’m not taking that away from him.”

Zed shakes her head. “I don’t understand how he can live like that.” She says it more to herself than to Chas.

“Who says he does?” Chas replies gravely. He lets his words sink in for a moment, then shakes his head as if to erase the thoughts from his own mind. “It’s good to have to you here. You do him good, Zed. He talks to you.”

Zed shrugs half-heartedly. “I’m just not sure I like what I hear.”

“That’s actually a good thing. It might just be what he needs. Someone to… call him out on his bullshit every now and then.” Chas gives her a knowing little smile. “I know all of this is terrifying, and it should be.” He pauses. “Just imagine what it must be like for him.”

Silence falls between them then in which Chas lets her decide what to make of all of this.

When they are two thirds into the movie, he speaks again, making it low so he won’t startle neither Zed nor John. “Hey Zed…,” Her head still jerks around and her eyes a little glassy. Whether it’s from the movie or if it’s fatigue, he can’t hell. “Never stop listening, okay?”

She contemplates that for a long moment. “I won’t.” She grins then, and it gives her eyes a different kind of sparkle. “As long as it’s neither his snoring nor his running commentary.” 

Then she rises again, walks over to the couch and presses a kiss to Chas’ cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually meant to post this on Valentine's but I'm slow writer and other fandoms interfered. Anyways... this was supposed to be light and fluffy but somehow I can't keep the angst away from them. So I'm not quite I'm 100% happy with this one (am I ever?) but maybe you enjoy it :)


End file.
